Concert Review : Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash

I mentioned in a previous post about the current situation with two Wishbone Ash's treading the boards. There's the band led by Andy Powell who go out as Wishbone Ash and the one led by bassist Martin Turner who are advertised as Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash (MTWA).

Turner was the principal (if not the sole) writer in the band in their 1970's heyday and was always the best and most distinctive singer. He also had a recognisable and perhaps unique bass style which helped to make the classic Ash sound alongside the twin guitars of Powell and, in turn, Ted Turner (no relation) and Laurie Wisefield.

Turner left (or was he pushed) Wishbone in 1980 over a disagreement with his colleague over the direction that band should go in - they seemed somewhat anxious, if not desperate, to do something that would increase their commercial standing and, amongst other ideas had been toying with the idea of bringing in a lead singer which resulted in Turner upping and leaving. After that, they released the workmanlike Number The Brave (which featured an underused John Wetton who also apparently offered the band Heat Of The Moment - oops!!) and the increasingly mediocre Twin Barrels Burning and Raw To The Bone.

The original quartet reconvened in 1989 for the instrumental album Nouveau Calls (see what they did there!) followed by two studio albums in Here To Hear and Strange Affair after which Turner decamped again. By this time drummer Upton had left and, over the next couple of years, the band was down to solely Andy Powell as last man standing from the original line-up.

1996 brought a Powell-led Ash album called Illuminations which was reminiscent of previous glories even if, in some cases, there may have been too much of a sense of pastiche about the material.

However, Tony Kishman who had sung on the album was unable to commit to a UK tour and he was replaced by none other than Martin Turner!! The tour was a memorable one and there is a particularly good bootleg called Depths Of Winter which captures the band in fine form.

Needless to say, though, whatever it is that irks these two individuals reared its head again and the partnership foundered after these gigs.

Since then Powell has lead Wishbone Ash through a succession of albums, second guitarists and a couple of drummers to the present day. The albums range from excellent (Bona Fide) to the very good (Clan Destiny) to the frankly mediocre (The Power Of Eternity). They have played regularly mixing old classics with new materials to the faithful rounds the clubs of Europe and the USA. However, there was always just a certain something lacking.........

In the past couple of year, Martin Turner clearly found his playing boots lying at the back of his wardrobe. Needless to say, his own name in itself would not suffice to attract the punters and, following some level of discussion and agreement with Powell, went out as Martin Turner's Wishbone. This didn't last long and some promoters went ahead and billed them as MTWA and this is how it now stands.

The band have released a couple of excellent live albums and, in a bizarre and risky move, have rerecorded the classic Argus album. They are currently touring playing this in its' entirety alongside other Ash material (many of which have not been played live for years or at all).

My son and I took a trip down to Stanley in Co. Durham to catch them on 23rd February. The show was excellent and it was great to see Martin's considerable presence on stage again. The material was well played and sung and, it has to be said, had more of a distinctive Ash feel to things in a way the Powell-led band can't touch. That's largely down to Martin's bass-playing and singing. They are hopefully playing in Glasgow in June and I'm looking forward to seeing them again.

Meantime, Wishbone Ash will be in Glasgow on 10th April and I'll be along to the Ferry to catch them. I'm one of those who is happy to have both bands in circulation, but it's still clear to me at least that the combination of Andy and Martin would provide something more substantial together than they are perhaps likely to be able to to do apart.

Next year is the band's 40th Anniversary and Martin has made some conciliatory noises and hoping that differences can be put aside to allow some sort of celebration involving the original band as a one-off event (or, hopefully, series of events) allowing those concerned to follow their own paths thereafter. Let's hope something that can come of this - I'll be there for it.